Confined
by JanaRump
Summary: In a mission, the Avengers get hurt, really hurt, and have to stay hidden for some time. Together, isolated. Will they be able to do it without killing each other? Hopefully fun and, sometimes, fluffy. Obs: there is an OC, but she's nothing major (just so things make sense)
1. Chapter 1

It all had began with another of von Doom's pranks (or what the psycho believed could be called fun).  
The Avengers had been on his tail until he decided to iniciate Plan B - which was basicaly activating three bombs inside an isolate building full of hostages.  
And damn him, it worked - they couldn't let fifty people die just so they'd be able to catch von Doom.  
So off went the six Avengers (Tony, Steve, Clint, Natasha, Thor and Loki - since bringing Hulk to a closed space full of civilians wasn't the wisest idea). According to JARVIS, there were five rooms, with ten people each, spread through the three floor.  
The gods took the third, Steve and Stark the second. After some minutes, almost everyone was out of the building, except the "mighty heroes" (as Tony liked to call them).  
And then, the most unlucky 10 seconds of their time as a group took was out trying to keep the former hostages from panicking, which led to Loki being alone when he found the explosives hidden in the floor. Unable to use magic to desarm it (orders from Odin) and realising he had only two seconds to do so, the God of Mischief wrapped his asgardian cape (that was virtualy indestructible) and his body around the bomb.  
This minimized the damages, but not enough - the floor chatered and he fell with it. Strike one.  
Right underneath him, upon hearing the ceiling crack, Steve threw himself over Tony (who didn't have his suit on while disarming the second explosive) the moment the later shouted "This one is down!". That ended up with the Captain's left side and both of Stark's legs crushed under lots of concrete and a shivering god. Strike two.  
At last, but not least, the third bomb went off on the first floor. It didn't quite reach Clint and Natasha, but the impact knocked them out; hard. Strike three.  
Without pause, Thor and Nick Fury - that had just arrived - ran to the others. While some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents tended to the injured assassins, the restless god found the mess on the next floor and carried the three men to the helicarrier.  
"Sir, I've found my brother, the Captain and the Man of Iron."  
"Are they harmed?" Fury asked before looking in their direction.  
"Oh, fuck", the director cursed under his breath when he finally turned around. "Has anyone seen them?"  
"No, Sir, I do not believe so." Thor uttered confused while handing the unconcious friends to the medical team. Fury took Loki, as even now a great part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents disliked/feared the god.  
Seeing as he shivered slightely and bited his lips so hard they bled, the Director tried to access the damage - which was huge. Once disentangled from his cape (that still held some carbonized pieces of the bomb), Loki's injuries were pretty obvious - there were burns on his face, hands and probably everywhere else under his clothes.  
"You have some nasty burns here." Nick said, turning the other's face towards himself to see the harmed side better.  
"Really? I had not noticed." Loki answered full of sarcasm. Fury suddenly remembered why he'd been opposed to including this god in the Avengers - therefor having to deal with him on an almost daily basis.  
"And how did you get that?"  
"Baking a cake." Getting no response, he gave up the teasing. "I hugged a bomb."  
"Why are you still alive then?" Now the director was truely curious.  
"Wrapped my cape around it first. Sorry for the disappointment, though."  
"Oh, shut up. I'll go tend to this mess, since you're well enough to joke."  
The god had then a total of 17 seconds of peace before Thor came and sat by his side."  
"How are you feeling, brother?"  
Too tired to replie, but still feeling he should apease Thor (for the life of him, being a good guy was hell!), Loki settled for a short answer."As ran over by a train." How midgardians could be stupid enough to have experienced it, he would never know.  
"Is there something I could do?" Thor always the big brother. Annoyingly so.  
"Just let me be." Closing his eyes, the tired god seemed to fall asleep. Thor refrained from insisting in a conversation, as forcing his brother to do anything was asking for problem.  
Deciding to check on the others, the god went looking for them. The helicarrier was quite extense, but eventually he found de medical wing (unsurprisingly away from the reclused room his brother was in).  
There laid the four harmed Avengers while Bruce paced between them. The doctor seemed distressed, going from Tasha to Clint, then Steve and Tony and back, almost in a non-stop circle around the disturbinly white room. Upon seeing Thor at the door, he paused his movements in order to go greet the god.  
"Hi, Thor. How are things back there?"  
"Very confusing, I would say, my friend." For some instants the two men just stopped there, not quite knowing what to say and not really wanting to hear the bad news that each probably had to remained still until Fury arrived, not as composed as usual.  
"How are they doing, Banner?"  
"Well, not exactly O.K., but at least now all four are stable."  
Although he tried to hide it, his voice gave away his fear for what could happen to their unconcious friends.  
"And how large are their injuries?"  
"Tony's legs are broken in more than one place each and Steve has crushed bones all through his left side. Clint and Natasha are better, just delocated shoulders and some bruises. We can only guess when they're going to be awake, though."  
"O.K. I've seen worse, at least nobody is dying." The director said almost under his breath. "You two listen to me, no one can know that five Avengers are down."  
"Five? What happened to Loki?" Bruce asked as if surprised the god was actually hurt. "Is it serious?" To this question, the sorrow in Thor's eyes was enough response.  
"Banner, let's focus on the matter. This information is dangerous, it's better if you all stay hidden until they are able to fight again."  
"Where do you propose we 'hide' in?" Thor said as if the idea of hiding was preposterous, even if necessary.  
"In an isolate house S.H.I.E.L.D. owns in France. Will they be able to be transported today?"  
"I suppose, yes. Don't know about your brother, though."  
"I'm sure he can endure whatever is best for all of us."  
"Then, be ready to go in three hour."  
Bruce and Thor stood on the doorway, eyes like mirrors to each other's - both fullfilled with incertainty.


	2. Chapter 2

The morning light shone through the curtains and reached Tony's eyes, finaly waking him up - which he didn't appreciate at all.  
"JARVIS, close the curtains." Stark uttered in a voice so weak it was almost a whisper. Before he could try to make sense of it, though, a huge headache made itself known. "Fuck it." Now wanting nothing more than his pills, the billionaire atenpted to get up - to no avail, as he couldn't feel his legs. What the fuck?  
Just then, better late than never, everything came to his mind. Von Doom, the bombs, taking off his suit to desarm one of them... and nothing more.  
"Hey, you're awake." A sweet and unknown voice sounded by his bed, making him open his eyes to see who it was. Now standing by his side there was a young woman (22 maybe?) with dark brown hair and eyes, smiling while she pressed her fingertips lightly to the side of his neck. "Sr. Stark, my name is Elena. Can you blink if you hear me?"  
Obeying her, he forced his heavy eyelids to move. "Great. I supose you want to know what's going on?" Tony blinked again, as speaking seemed to be out of question. "You and some of the other Avengers got hurt in an accident and Director Fury though it better to have you all hiding until full recovery."  
O.K... He didn't know exactly what to think right now (the genious part of his mind seemed to be far away, leaving him only with the hangoverlike one), but the girl looked sincere enough.  
"I think I should let you rest. I'll be back every five minutes, o.k.?" And with no further coments, she - Elena - left the room. After a few painful moments staring at the ceiling, he began moving at last - first looking to his left, where laid an armchair and then the wooden door; secondly to the big wardrobe in front of him; and then to his right, what he saw making Tony actualy worried for the first time since waking. On the bed next to him, there was a very pale and aperently unconcious Steve. Oh, shit.  
It was normal for him to get hurt every now and then, but it was Captain fucking America. Before he could start to freak out - which he wouldn't, of course - Banner appeared out of the blue.  
"Hey, Tony! Are you all right?" No asnwer given or expected, the doctor proceded to press an ear to the injuried man's chest, but didn't achieve the results expected. "Always forget about the reactor."  
"Hi, Bruce. Tell me 'bout the party I missed."  
"Oh, I don't really know what happened. You're found with Steve and Loki, and they are not very communicative right now." The joke was kind of spoild by his tired and worried eyes, but Tony got it's sour meaning.  
"How bad?" Although short, the question had been said in a stronger voice - a good sign he though. And his science bro got what was being asked.  
"Not the worst I've seen, but still... Loki has burns all around and Steve has a total of twelve broken bones. You have both legs broken, but I think you already know that." Actually, he hadn't been aware of his own injuries, but whatever. Anestesics were great, weren't them?  
"You should get some more sleep, you look terrible Tony."  
"Sure, sure." Although sarcastic, he closed his eyes anyway.  
Bruce, noticing half surprised that his friend had actually taken his advice without complaining (even if being exausted was the major reason for him to do so), moved on to Steve's bed. The man looked like death warmed over - who would say he had the worst reaction to injuries? Not used to it, maybe...  
The doctor took Elena's place in the bedroom for some minutes, until sleep decided to make it's way through him for the first time in two days.


	3. Chapter 3

'Ugh, screw Doom' was the first thing that crossed Natasha's mind when she finally regained conscience.  
Every little inch of her body was hurting or numb (probably thanks to pain killers), what wasn't exactly a problem - dealing with injuries had became second nature by now. However, she felt there was something out of place. Facing some difficulty (heavy stuff, these drugs), the spy opened her eyes to the light blue ceiling above her head and found the explanation to the strange feeling - she was in a bedroom. Not in a hospital wing, dark cell or confined in a metal room, just a plain and quiet bedroom.  
Where am I? She couldn't help thinking while trying to get up from the uncommomly comfortable bed. After some struggling with bedsheats, torpid legs and an I.V. wire, Natasha got to her feet only to see a button up white dress attached to her pale body. Deffinitely something strange...  
Looking around the oddly cozy space and locating the door, her somewhat confused mind worked in many directions - what was this place, where were the others, where could she find a gun? The agent walked silently to the exit and reached for the doorknob, never touching it as the door was opened from the outside.  
Seemingly oblivious to her position behind the wooden piece, a rather quiet woman, also dressed in white, came into the room. Then she saw the empty bed and uttered a silent 'oh' and turned around smiling - ? - until she found a very still and defensive Natasha. Apparently not afraid at all, although clearly unarmed, her only reaction was to greet the redhead with a light scowl on her delicate face.  
"Hello, agent Romanoff. I see you're up already." And then continued almost as an afterthough, "are you feeling well?"  
"Who are you?"  
"My name is Elena Rigby, I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and I'm here to take medical care of you and your teammates." Everything was said so calmly and with such certainty that the Avenger felt herself begining to trust the other agent enough to let her guard down - if only partially.  
Straightening her back and relaxing her shoulders, Tasha got back to her questions.  
"What is this place?"  
"This is your bedroom, the house is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s. We're in France, some hours by car from Paris."  
"And the others?"  
"The Avengers are all here, although I'm afraid everyone is sleeping right now. If you're well enough, I can show you the place."  
Even though the presence of the smiling stranger was kind of unsettling, the assassin found herself following the fellow - yet unknown - agent through the house.  
The doorway led to a large corridor, its wall opposite to them being made of glass, and through which she could see a simple garden, then - going downhill - a lake.  
The women didn't take more than a second to look at the beautiful view, though, proceding imediately to the next door.  
Elena opened it silently to a room larger than hers. Inside there were two more beds - the closest was empty and tidy, while the other had a big light green lump on it. Getting ahead of Natasha, Elena walked towards said swelling that was actually an unconcious Clint covered in sheats and wearing bandagens on his forehead. The doctor checked his pulse, adjusted the I.V. and came back out.  
"This is Mr. Banner's and Mr. Barton's room."  
Continuing along their way, the two passed through a livingroom and entered another corridor, on the other side of the garden and almost a reflexion of the previous one.  
Pushing a new door open, three sleeping forms were revealed - first Tony, then Bruce and, at last, Steve - none really well.  
As she had done before, Elena went to check there conditions (except Banner's) and returned.  
They kept going until the last bedroom, which was locked. "This is Mr. Loki's, but he won't let me in." At that, the everpresent smile faltered. "Mr. Odinson will be sleeping here as well, once his brother give's up being recluded."  
Now that she had seen her teammates, Natasha was considerably calmer. Maybe she could contact Fury later to get the situation's details...  
"Lady Natasha, you're awake at last!" A booming voice sounded from the other end of the corridor.  
"Hi, Thor." It was all she got to say before being taken in a bearhug and suddenly made aware of many chest injuries. Suppressing a yelp (because she was a lot stronger than that), Tasha just pushed him with enough strengh to make the god notice her attempt. It took some moments for him to understand her efforts, but when it happened Thor disentangled them at once.  
"I'm so sorry, Lady Natasha. I forget you are mortal and can't cure rapidly."  
"It's okay." In truth it hurt like hell, but there was no need to tell him that. Looking around for a distraction, she saw that the doctor was nowhere to be seen.  
"Come sit with me, while we wait for our comrades."Both went back to the livingroom, where each found a comfortable position on the sofa and stood pratically frozen for some time.  
"What happened to everyone? I just remember hearing a explosion and hitting a wall."  
"I believe Anthony and Captain were hit by rubble."  
"And Loki?"  
"My brother was severely burnt by the explosion's heat. That was what Sir Fury told me, as Loki hasn't said a word yet."  
Seeing how Thor was distressed, Natasha let the conversation slip away. Closing her eyes, she tried to access the damage made to her own body. A few broken ribs, former delocated shoulder and wrist, maybe ankle as well - it was hard to tell after it was put into place if the pain wasn't just from a sore muscle.  
"Agent Romanoff?" The soft spoken words startled the Avenger. A sneaky one, this Elena, she though. After all, not anyone could get her by surprise. When the spy opened her eyes, there were a glass of water and some pills right in front of her. "For the pain." The other said before handing her the items and disappearing again.  
Half an hour later, Thor decided to take a sleeping Natasha back to her quarters. Then he went to the kitchen, intend on eating something to distract himself.


	4. Chapter 4

God of thunder, prince of Asgard, and unable to aid his friends. This though was nagging at him since the day before. Feeling helpless was indeed a horrible sensation.  
Wandering into the room, the Avenger didn't see the new agent until he bumped into her.  
"Oh, Lady Elena, I'm sorry. Have I hurt you?"  
"No harm done, Mr. Odinson. I'm fine."  
Although relieved, his previous scowl returned full force. I'm not even capable of watching where I'm going...  
"Hey, are you o.k.?" The worried words and the gentle hands on his cheeks surprised him enough to make his expression somewhat blanck. Without waiting for an answer, the lady stared deep into his eyes to get his complete attention. "Don't blame yourself for things you had no control over. Remember what misplaced feelings did to your brother."  
Thor couldn't decide what was more unsettling - what had been said or its passionated tone. How could this woman get so easyly what he had been thinking? And now he though about it, nobody had ever been so understanding towards his brother without never really getting to know him (some not even then).  
Just like her aim was to confuse him, the girl returned to whatever she was doing before almost being knocked over. Now curious, the god looked at the counter directly in front of her and where her small hads prepared five sandwhiches at the same time - almost finished now.  
"What is it you are concoting?" Thor uttered right before his stomach rumbled, reminding him him primary reason to come to the kitchen. Amusement in her eyes, she concluded the simple dish with a loaf of bread each and handed him two - the biggest one, with lots of ham, and a normal one.  
"I made sandwhiches to those awake, don't want hungry heroes on my tail, n'est ce pas?" Turning around, the doctor picked two others, leaving hers behind. "I though you'd like a big one. The other is for Loki, if you can get him to open the door. Who knows, the best way to catch someone is through his stomach, right? I'll try to wake Mr. Banner." With that Thor was left behind smiling again. This lady was really agreeable and anyone who tried to take care of his brother was a friend.  
Not wanting to waste time to test a new way to make Loki open up a bit, the blonde almost ran to his to-be-bedroom. After checking the handle - still locked - he knocked softly twice.  
"Brother, can I come in?" No replie. "Please, you are hurt and I can take care of you." Silence. "And I have sandwhiches", then as an afterthough, "and ice cream."  
Finally some sound - not words, but the rustling of sheats and then light steps through the room.  
Beaming at the success, Thor waited patiently until a soft click was heard and the door moved barely an inch. He then slowly pushed it and steped into the dark bedroom.  
"Why the darkness, my brother?"  
"There isn't anything worth seeing here, is there?" Was the younger's curt answer.  
"What...?" It took some moments for the older to understand what his sibbling meant with his comment, but when he did an incredulous look crossed his face. "Are you corcerned about your appearance?!"  
A frown marred Loki's features - not that it could be seen, as he faced the ground. "Do you have to mock me?", even whispered the question managed to sound angry.  
"Loki, I'd never mock you. It's just that you must understand that whatever happens I'll always stand by you. Something as unimportant as looks would never bother me." And added as a joke, "do you forget I've seen you as a mare already?", which reached its purpose making the god of mischief chuckle despite himself.  
Without further warning, Thor turned on the lights, laced his fingers under his brother's chin and raised his head until his face was visible. The blonde hid his gasp, but not the sorrow in his eyes.  
The lighthearted demeanor of the silvertongue's face vanished, only to be replaced by hurt disguised as coldness. "I said you'd be disgusted."  
"Of course I'm not disgusted, I'm worried. Does it hurt?"  
"Let's not talk about it." The way he avoided moving more than strictly necessary as answer enough, though. "Now, where is the ice cream?" Oh, that... As the sweet tooth he was, Loki had fallen for the midgardian delicacy the first time it reached his senses.  
"Actually, I don't have it right now, but I promise I'll go get it once we eat our sandwhiches."  
Apparently thinking about a retort and then giving up on it, the pale unscathed hand caught the plate offered. Both gods then retreated to the first bed and sat upon it.  
At last comfortable and appeasing his hunger, Thor dared to take a look at his pained brother. That's when he noticed that, apart from the worringly vast burns, the only piece of clothing he wore were loose shorts.  
"Where have your clothes gone to, my brother?"  
"I'm afraid I won't be able to wear than for some time..."  
"I see. If your injuries are so troublesome, why don't you let the doctor tend to them?"  
"I've got no desire to have people staring at me. Besides, I don't know her." In other words, he didn't trust her.  
"Do not worry about that. Lady Elena is a fine person and she is corcerned with your wellbeing." This comment received an minimally raised eyebrow. "You could give her a chance."  
Choosing to ignore the advice (as 'giving a chance' was Thor's saying for every new person he met), Loki changed subjects. "How are the others?"  
"I don't really know, they were all sleeping before I came in here. Anthony and Lady Natasha have awaken earlier; she even walked around the house. Maybe by tomorrow we all will be able to assemble once again." At this the darkhaired god returned his eyes to the ground. "Oh, don't you be like that. No one will be put off by your injuries. Freya was a bad influence, wasn't she?"

That gathered another chuckle and a small, yet sincere, smile. "All right, I'll go. I'd like to lay down now, though. Moving ails me."  
"No problem, I'll go and let you sleep. Is it okay if I let the doctor in?""If you trust her, then so must I."With that Thor turned the lights off and headed once again to the livingroom, this time with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dr. Banner."  
The words reached Steve's ears muffled by somnolency.  
"Wake up, doctor." The soft whispered voice continued. "Here, I brought you a sandwhich. You could eat and then go keep company to Mr. Barton."  
"Oh, thank you. Is he awake yet?"  
"I'm afraid not, but agent Romanoff has just gone back to sleep after taking a look around. And I think Mr. Loki finally let Mr. Odinson talk to him."  
The noise seemed to be increasing by the second, and wasn't at all a pleasing sensation. Intend on silencing whoever it was, Captain opened his eyes and tried to move his surprisingly dry lips - which was proving to be harder than he remembered. For a moment, the memorie of waking up in a S.H.I.E.L.D. basis after being found dragged itself to his mind, only to be pushed back by reasoning - panicking would do him no good.  
Now, lets think about more pressing matters. Where am I? He said to himself - not the sanest attitude, but it helped him cope with stress every now and them.  
All he could see right now was a white ceiling and turning his face for more wasn't exactly an easy task.  
"Oh, Dr. Banner, Mr. Rogers is awake as well."  
Suddenly, his vision was fullfilled by a worried, probably sleep deprived and excited Bruce.  
"Hi, Steve. Can you hear me, man?"  
Summoning all his will, the blonde uttered a weak 'yes'.  
"Good. How are you feeling?" To try and answer the question, the injuried Avenger concentrated on his own body - not the wisest decisions, the decided after feeling the pain the conversation was distracting him from.  
" 've been better."  
"Sorry 'bout that, maybe the pain killers we have are not enough for you..."  
"What happ...?" Although the end of the question wasn't sufficiently strong for anyone to hear, Bruce got it.  
"You and Tony were covered by rumble from one of the explosions. Thor got you all out, but it was pretty bad."  
While his friend explained the situation, Rogers attempted moving his neck in order to take a look at himself. From nowhere, thin arms surrounded his shoulders and lifted him some inches.  
Getting what whoever it was intended on doing, the scientist reached for a huge pillow behind him and put it under Steve. Now able to make out more of his setting, the former soldier saw a young woman by his right side, Banner to the left and, a little further, a very bruised Stark.  
"You'd have died if it wasn't for the serum and your shield, you know? There seem to be so many wounded tissues that it'll probably take some months for you to recover completely.  
"What about S.H.I.E.L.D.?" What sounded more Iike 'wha'bou shiel'', as hoarse as his voice was. Out of the blue a glass of water appeared right to his lips. However undignified, he was too thirsty and not nearly lordly enough to reject it.  
"I honestly don't know how Fury will solve this, but I'm sure he'll find a way. Now, you need to rest."  
Knowing that it was the best he could do right now, Steve closed his eyes and tried to relax despite the pain.  
"You need your rest as well, doctor." Elena whispered once both medics reached the doorway, as Bruce wouldn't take his eyes off his teammates.  
"Yes, I know. It's just that..."  
"They're your responsibility. It's all right, I can handle then alone for a couple of hours." At that the man smiled rather fatherly.  
"You need some sleep too, you know?"  
"When we have kids, that is no longer a possibility."  
That caught him out of guard, as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with kids weren't exactly common.  
"Kids? Why are you here trapped with us then?" At this point, Elena had closed the bedroom's door and was heading to the livingroom.  
"I'm hardly trapped, tending to the Avengers is quite an honor." The words were followed by a sincere smile. "Besides, it's my responsibility."  
Before he had a chance to prolongate the chat, she handed him the sandwhich he had forgotten and proceeded to the other corridor, probably to see Clint or Tasha. After becoming the Hulk Banner didn't trust people very easyly, but this girl was making suspicion hard.  
Now more hungry than worried, he went to the kitchen in order to eat at the table - a pleasant habit in his opinion. There, a certain god was half buried in the fridge.  
"Hey, Thor. Searching for something?"  
"Oh, hello my friend! I seek the midgardian delicacy called ice cream."  
"I don't think we have it here. Why the urge for it?"  
"My brother has finally let me in and he desires it." This was said with such happiness that it reminded the scientist of a child at Christmas.  
"Oh, great news. And how is he?"  
"Not in the best conditions, but well enough to come and join us when the others are ready as well. What brings me to question, how are they?" Now the blonde's features took a more serious look, true worry and carring clear in his eyes.  
"I think everyone is in the safe side by now. Clint has yet to wake up, but he's been through worse. Surely in a few days everyone will be concious enough to enjoy our time together. It's our first vacation after all." The comment was accompanied by a weak laughter, which quickly grew stronger as it gathered a booming partner


	6. Chapter 6

Clint woke up to a soft buzz right next to his left ear. Damned be all mosquitos... Hateful creatures! Okay, 'maybe' Thor's strange manners were getting to him. You'd have a field day with it, wouldn't you, Tony?  
...Why am I talking to myself? Oh yeah, the buzzy demon. Gotta shoot it.  
Stoping his random intern rambling - which happened more often than he would care to think of - Barton reached instinctively to his bedside for his quiver and bow.  
Oh, holy fuck. It was all his mind could come up with after a moment of blinding pain through his upper body. Why the hell does everything hurt?!  
In sequence to recalling the previous day's events - even though two days had passed, he didn't know that - and, while at it, deciding the pancakes Steve had made for breakfast wouldn't have such effect, the name finally came to his mind: Doom.  
What a pain in the ass this guy can be. Right now, literally.  
Still hearing the annoying insect, the archer opened his eyes to assay his surrondings and find a way to take it down without moving. Easy, easy.  
Now focusing his attention on the room, his thoughs were dragged away from the little nuisance. The white ceiling, light blue walls, wooden furniture and downright comfortable mattress and pillows were deffinitely unexpected. It sure as hell wasn't the helicarrier, or the Stark/Avengers Tower for that matter - way to simple decoration. Not that Barton took notice of this kind of thing, of course not.  
This all took into consideration, there was the question: where was he?  
For a tiny instant, the agent cogitated being in danger. However, he wasn't restrained in any way - other than because of injuries, door and window were ajar. Perhaps he was being too trusting, but one had to be faithfull every now and then. I wonder how I'm still alive...  
That was when Bruce and Thor appeared by the door, smiling tiredly. "Hey, big guys." If his voice ever gets any hoarser, he'd be on his death bed.  
"How are you feeling, man?" Banner managed to ask between medical ministrations.  
Not in the mood for a sore throat, he just nodded - only to be made aware of a injuried neck.  
"Try not to move, my friend. It'll be to no avail while so severely wounded." Why couldn't Thor just stick to a 'cut the crap, bro, you're too fucked up for that'? Anyway...  
"And everyone else?"  
Interrupting any answer he might have been given, Natasha walked into the room like it was her own and kept going until she was right in front of him. Uncharacteristically, she wore a white dress and her hair was arranheded in a loose, low ponytail; she was a bit pale, had some scraps here and there. Taking everything else in, Clint missed the angered look in her eyes.  
"Hey, Nat..." He managed to say before receiving a slap to the face - not as hard as she was capable of, but not gentle enough to be mocking - and strucking his reasoning at a stunned 'what?', which was mirrored on the two faces around them.  
"Don't you ever wake up after me again." Unexpected was an understatement.  
"Okay, I gess..." Although surprised, he was pleased. To anyone it'd seem strange, but Barton knew it was her way to show worry. "You promise not to struck me next time and I'll think 'bout it."  
"We shall see." Just like that, her expression went back to her normal blanckness - already fading around her teammates - and the little exchange was stored for 'later use' by Bruce and Thor.  
"So, as you see you were the last to wake up after being hit by Doom's trap. Tony and Steve got right back to sleep. Speaking of which, why are you up and about already?" The doctor asked almost fatherly.  
"I'm russian." It seemed to be explanation enough to her, so nobody questioned. It was a fact to all Avengers that staying on Tasha's good graces was as vital as breathing.  
"What 'bout Frosty?" Clint said to get the conversation back into trail.  
"Don't call my brother that." The obvious voice boomed suddenly serious inside the room.  
"He's the god of chaos, for Christ's sake. I think he can handle a nickname." How many times would they have the same discussion? "So, Bruce. You didn't mention him."  
"His skin is extensely wounded. I'd appreciate if none of you commented on it when you see him, by the way." Thor added quietly.  
As the tension in the room needed to be broken, a new occupant came in with a glass of water on one hand and a plate containing a sandwhich on the other. After placing both silently by his bed stand, the woman proceeded to check his I.V. - which he hadn't paied attention to until now - while introducing herself.  
"Hi, agent Barton. My name is Elena and Director Fury chose me to tend to you all. I'll be glad to aid in anything." It all sounded so professional, like she didn't want to intrude in their conversation as a team. Good thing. Nick had finally learned not to send nem fanboy agents to work with them.  
"Oh, hi. Thank you." Then both nodded and she parted greeting all others pretty politely.  
"How strange..." Banner spoke to himself, but loud enough for anyone there nonetheless.  
"What is it you find abnormal, my friend?"  
"She greeted everyone differently." The scientist clarified, now attempting to remember how the newcomer had spoke to the others.  
"Indeed." The ginger chimed in the new branch of conversation, puting an end to it for the time being. Clint new better than to ask right now - Natasha always though things over before giving her opinion on them.  
For the next minutes they chitchated about the outcome of their last mission and wondered how things would be for the next couple of months.  
It'll be easy, we're all friends. Famous last words.


	7. Chitchat

Hello everyone! Chitchat time ;)

This story started as a joke between friends, but I got attached somehow. Result: we have a looong way to go before it ends. What has been posted until now would be a 'prologue' of sorts, but got out of my control (seriously, who can control plot bunnies?)

I'm sorry about how short are the chapters. It's the only way for me to post every day.

I'd like to apologize for any mistakes regarding grammar, spelling etc. English is not my first language, I don't have a beta or much time to revise it all myself.

Back to the story, what do you think of easter eggs competition? I hide as many references to books, films, interviews and whatever (related to the Avengers and the actors) as I can and whoever manages to find more can choose a fun/fluffy situation for the next chapter. Let me know!

Other than that, I warn the only shipping to be found here is Clintasha. Maybe hints of Pepperony (perfect name for the perfect couple) and Thor/Jane. As much as I adore many other shippings, I'll stick to the basics with this one.

At last, but not least, I'd like you to know that reviews absolutely make my day!

Lots of Love, see you soon somewhere in France!


	8. Chapter 7

The first hours of the next morning passed by in a haste.  
While Loki and Natasha took care of themselves, Captain, I-man and Hawk needed a hand - either in bathing, dressing or simply getting out of bed. Thor handled Steve (as the only one who could take the soldier's weight without problem) and Bruce, his roommate.  
Given that all of them were used to each other, the only minor complication was caused by Tony - who pretended to be asleep for half an hour, then refused to let Elena take him out of bed until she tactfully bribed him with a (fake) promise of scotch.  
After breakfast was made and the table was set, a little wheelchair traffic jam occured as a certain billionaire though funny repeatedly blocking the way of a Bruce-carried Rogers.  
Finally, at ten a.m., all of them (except Loki) were somewhat comfortable through the livingroom.  
Anthony ate as his life depended on it - 'takes energy being awesome', he'd said - while the injuried blonde smiled to the easily cut Pancakes (after all he could use only one hand) and Thor mouth fed a scowling Clint (whose arms were kind of unuseful) - the first of those beaming at the opportunity to play older brother.  
Banner and Elena paced continualy between the table and the four men, refilling cups whenever necessary.  
"Hey," the playboy said suddenly, his mouth still full. "Where is Reindeer Games?"  
"He told me he'd come when ready." Thor answered, his expression fading a bit.  
"Ready? What for?" Romanoff asked, hadn't yet been warned about Loki's condition.  
"He's been burnt and is kind of uncomfortable with his appearance." Bruce chimed in. Tasha's response was a look so incredulous and, at the same time, disregarding that it made all around her want to laugh - which they didn't to preserve their lives.  
"He's worried about how he looks? Around us?! I'm gonna get that 'princess' here right now." With that she stomped out to said god's room  
Inside, the dark haired man heard strong knocks on the solid wood of the door. He kept silent - maybe, if he stood still, whoever it was would go away.  
More knocks. "Go away."  
"Shut the hell up and get out here!" Natasha pratically shouted.  
"Natasha?"  
"Yes. Why is the door locked?" She said curtly while trying tha doorknob. The man sighted - before the Avengers, nobody spoke like that in his presence (being a prince and frightening had its perks).  
Good times, the former villain whispered sarcastically to himself, getting up and going to the door before the spy knocked it out of her way.  
"The answer is pretty obvious: I don't want anyone in." This got him a half amused, half irritated snort from the outside - incredible how he could always get under her skin.  
"We know it's because of the burns. Cut the crap, let me see them." Fuck you, Thor.  
"That's precisely what I'm trying to avoid."  
"Don't be a lady, either you get out or I get in. Ten seconds."  
"I'm not decent!"  
"Nine, eight..." Oh, Odin, where have polite midgardians gone?  
Seeing no way out, the god unlocked the door and pulled it some inches. Not patient at all, the redhead pushed it the rest of the way.  
Not one to back down, he just faced her and got as an answer a blanck stare. Instead of the disgust or sorrow the man had been expecting, he got a simple 'come get breakfast'.  
Kind of stunned, Loki followed the assassin to the almost crowded livingroom, forgetting all about his lack of clothing. There, both were received with surprised silence and sudden smiles.  
"Lady Natasha, you succeeded!" Thor stated happier than a child that has just seen Santa.  
"I always do."  
"Morning, Loki." Captain, ever the gentleman.  
"Good morning, everyone."  
"Rudolph!" Anthony uttered still chewing. "Where is your modesty, man? There are ladies here!"  
Why am I friends with him? The former magician though when said man made fun of him (surely not for the last time). He felt like punching the other's face right now.  
However, indeed, the god was not dressed properly - the only bearable thing he had found was another loose pair of his brother's midgardian underwear.  
"My name is not Rudolph, I don't even know where this came from. And it's not my fault if nothing else suits my... condition."  
"Condition? The way you say it, seems like you were pregnant." Loki couldn't help but to growl at that - anger management can only take you so far.  
"You two stop acting as kids." Bruce interrupted there little everyday quarrel. "Sit and have something to eat, Lok'." Both overgrown children complied and the meal moved on smothly.  
Everything was uncharacteristicaly quiet and one could only hope it wasn't just the calm before the storm.

A.n.: sorry for not posting yesterday, for being short and, unfortunately, not even looked over. I'm thinking about writing some scenes separately (like the wheelchair one, it seems great in my head). What do you think?

Lots of love. R&R


	9. Chapter 8

When everybody was finished with their plain breakfast (after all they were not in their best shape), Natasha and Loki got up seemingly eager to do whatever it was they had in mind for the day.  
However, Bruce motioned for them to stay put as the injuried Avengers hadn't yet been informed of Fury's contingency plan.  
"What is it,Bruce?" Tasha asked, seeing his distress - nobody wanted to be the bearer of bad news.  
"Well, I'd like all of you to pay some attention now. Fury is not exactly happy with what happened to our team..."  
"He's not even the one in plaster." Tony commented.  
"...and he has made some arrangements so that the news don't spread. We basically are cut out of the outside world for the foreseeable future."  
Stark was the first to break the silence with a outraged gasp. "Wait, what?! Totally cut out? No Pepper, no JARVIS?"  
"Yes, until the whole team is recovered."  
"For months, then! How am I supposed to survive?" The playboy all but whined, forcing a chuckle out of the god seated beside him.  
"And you claim I'm the woman here." Loki joked, only to be glared at by Banner (at least as much as the doctor could glare without being truly angry).  
"You'll get by, Tony. It's not like any of us has a choice - S.H.I.E.L.D. counts on the team and we cannot be seen down." Clint chimed in to keep the billionaire from activating 'crying baby mode'.  
"Says the one whose girl is still here." Ah, if looks could kill or the archer could use his arms. His eternal (though not yet admitted) crush on Natasha was supposed to be a secret - not that anyone on the team wasted time before making 'discreet' fun of him for it.  
"Getting back on track...", said, in a slightly raised voice, the composed 'science bro' (a title Anthony tried to turn official, along with Captain Spandex and The Awesomes - 'it's already A Tower', he'd say).  
"Let's concentrate on the logistics. There are only five bedrooms, so we'll have to share; anyone against that?" Nobody was childish enough to protest. "Great. At the present, it's me and Clint, Lok' and Thor, Ton' and Steve; the girls'll get the smaller ones."  
"And what about food? The fridge won't fill itself." "We'll need clothes, as well. The few packs I've seen won't suffice." The assassins stated.  
"Lady Elena assured me she'll be able to care for that." All eyes turned to said woman.  
"Director Fury gave me permission to go to close villages every now and then for supplies. Under cover, of course."  
"What will this cover be?" Loki asked curious.  
"I moved here with my husband and brothers so we can take care of our ill father. That way I can by many different thing without it seeming suspicious."  
"Okay... Then, that's it? We'll be confined here until everything goes back to normal." Captain summed up.  
"It's all right... We'll have fun, won't we?" Tony said, not really sincere.

A.n.: sooooo sorry for the short chapter and late update (my parents are pretty annoying when they want to be).

Lots of love, R&R


	10. Chapter 9

"Life is booooring." Tony uttered, facing the livingroom ceiling. After things had been settled (without his input, he might add), the new girl had explained everyone's conditions in detail - medications, expected time for recovery, this kind of things - and then magically popped out of the room and into the kitchen while each Avenger talked about the latest Doom incident (seriously, that one was either a witch or as creepy as Widow).

Now, there was absolutely nothing to be done. No mission, no lab, no going outside, no scotch. Gods, even getting up from a fucking wheelchair wasn't a possibility at the moment.

"Stop sulking." Steve said, tired of this childish behavior.

"I'm not 'sulking'. I'm simply wasting my time analising the freaking ceiling."

"Could you please at least stop cursing?" So now even 'freaking' was cursing? Steve seriously needed to stop acting like the old man he was.

"Of course, Cap. Give something else to do then." While Rogers seemed to try and come up with an idea, Clint came out of his bedroom's corridor and sat heavily on the couch.

"Being wounded sucks." Captain opened his mouth to comment, but closed it again wisely deciding it would do know good to call on the archer's possibly inexistent manners.

"Tell me 'bout it." Five minutes os silence. This all days for a couple weeks and every little remaint of sanity left into Tony would become dust.

While the billionaire pictured his brain turning into ashes, Bruce appeared right in front of him. "Tony, are you o.k.?" He asked, concerned about the lost look in his friend's eyes.

"Sure, just wondering. Can one die of boredom?"

"We haven't been here enough time for you to be whining."

"I'm not whining, just...complaining about this awful situation."

"Complaining and whining are synonyms, Stark." Did Loki live to annoy him? Seriously. He walked into the room in the right moment to catch his little blunder.

"Shut up, Reindeer."

Five awkward minutes pass by then. Everybody just stayed silent and dejected, until Natasha materialized out of a door behind the couches to which no one had paid attention before this very second.

"Hey guys, I found some movies here. Anyone wants to give them a go?" A cacophony of 'sure's, 'yeah's and 'yes'es was heard immediately. The spy smiled (as much as she allowed herself) and took a seat beside Clint on the loveseat - 'how appropriate' crossed some minds around them. "So let's see what we have here." She proceeded then to unzip a large black case apparently containing dozens of DVD's and flipped through them.

Oh, JARVIS, I miss you soooo much!

After some time reading titles, the Avengers settled for both 'Fantastic Four', 'because of reasons' Clint had said - though everyone knew it was because the archer (conviniently) liked superheroes.

Stark was the only one who had seen it before - when it was released Loki and Thor weren't on the planet, Captain was freezed, Banner trying to avoid people and Barton and Tasha, well, were somewhere in he world doing something - so when the movie began the house was pretty quiet (even Thor, one might add).

That is, till the sixth minute of it, when Johnny appeared for the first time.

"Wait, wait, wait! Go back, go back!" Tony exclaimed seemingly out of the blue, reaching unsuccessfully for the remote control. "Did you see that?"

"That what, man?" Hawk asked, not happy at all that they hadn't even got to the action and were already being disturbed.

"It is Capsicle!" Steve didn't bother to complain - after some time with the billionaire one has to get used to nicknames.

"What is me?" The man uttered, trying not to let irritation seep into his voice.

"Johnny! Johnny is you!" Okay, now was a good time to give him a sleeping pill.

Calm as ever (not so much around her teammates, but still), Natasha caught the remote and went some time back in the movie, to the scene Susan says 'have you met my brother Johnny?'. And indeed, there he is, a sassy and younger version of the former soldier.  
"Wow, he really seems like you, now that I look closely." Clint agrees, getting 'hum's of accordance.

"Just a little thinner and horny you!"

"Oh, Loki, so many midgardian terms you learned and you use it against our Captain?" Thor chimed in.

Blushing furiously as this Johnny guy kissed a stranger, Steve just gathered a few cushions under his right arm and buried his face in it. "Shut up you, I still want to see the movie." Natasha came to his rescue.

For the next hour they enjoyed the movie together - here and there snickering at the blonde's expense - and all but forgot their little situation.

A.n.: late update, I know. Sorry guys. It's hard balancing your time...

Anyway, hope you liked it :)

Lots of love, R&R


	11. Chapter 10

"Can you believe that?! The son of a bitch got his name from a fucking movie character!"

Currently having lunch, the team was still discussing 'The Fantastic Four', but had moved on from Steve's clone (thank god!).

"Now that I think about it, we shouldn't be overly surprised. After all, during two years, all the guy has came up with to destroy us are robots and bombs - not exactly creative."

"Still! It's worst than if I called myself, I don't know, Iron Maden and Lokster being named Zelda." This earned the playboy a death glare from the 'princess'.

In the afternoon, seemingly exhausted, everyone got some sleep (or at least tried to).

In the course of the next three days, the Avengers were satisfied watching movies together - something they did very rarely either for lack of time or for having 'better things to do'. All of them would join in the livingroom after breakfast and choose a DVD from the case they discovered to be Elena's; then do the same after lunch.

The first day, the chosen were 'The Nanny Diaries' and 'Zodiac'.

The first movie had Steve literally hiding his face behind a pillow as everyone snickered and Clint scowled. "It's not me, for Christ's sake!" he said one too many times, but to no avail. Nobody picked on Tasha though, for obvious reasons.

The second didn't get such a reaction - as all were either paying attention to the plot, faking to be helpful in some other room (darling Captain, of course) or stating repeatedly how handsome 'Paul Avery' was (no comments necessary...).

When the sky was finally darkening, a question rose in the house: why the hell did the movies have actors so similar to them?

"Part of the Director's contingency plan is to have some people acting as you and living in the Avengers Tower for the time being."Elena explained, smiling as if all of this was normal.

"Like, clones? That's kind of creepy." Clint, still moody over the movie...

"Not clones, just very similar people. They all could use some make up, but I trust they'll be a good cover; after all, we were lucky enough to fing actual actors to do the job."

"Oh, so you have movies of everyone here?" Natasha asked, her face blanck (also still moody), though her teammates could see the shadow of a smirk on her lips.

"Yes, the agents thought it would be a safe activity. If I'm honest, I was actually wanting to see the reactions." The doctor answered, somewhat confortable around the heroes by now.  
Steve stared in disbelief - she had been so nice talking to him in the kitchen while his 'friends' laughed at his face, but it was all her in the end. Loki smiled, one of his few true smiles - one prone to mischief, he could work with that.

The conversation kind of died from there, as the eight temporary inhabitants of the house went to sleep.

The two following days were occupied by 'Cash', 'The Bourne Legacy' ('at least my guy can pull some stunts', Clint uttered giving birth to a sort of competition of whose 'clone' would be the best) and the last of the case, 'The Deep Blue Sea'.

"Holy fuck, Loki!" Tony all but shouted at exactly nine minutes and five seconds into the movie, seemingly unsure as to close his eyes or stare at the currently naked actor who was identical to the god standing beside him.

The other seemed unfazed, though. "You midgardians, blushing at anything. Besides, this mortal is nothing like me."

"Mortal or not, he's your spitting image and you know it." Bruce, always trying to put an end to arguments. In response, Loki sulked until the last scene (specially while Freddie cried).

The evening was then filled by a heated debate between Stark, Barton and Thor about which 'clone' (however uncorrect the title) would be the best.

*The 'clones' meet

Tom Hiddleston got into a huge conference room right on schedule (british people...). In jeans and a black sweater, he felt terribly underdressed after seen dozens of suitclad 'agents' - which was a surreal idea in itself.

/The previous night, Tom had been sleeping when the door bell rang, startling him. Confused, the man wrapped a bed sheat around himself (too lazy for anything else) and went to the front door of the appartament he was in for the week, opening it slightely to reveal a somewhat short man - not that many people could be considerated tall compared to him...

Anyway, it took some seconds, but his hazy mind finally managed to form a full sentence. "Um...Hi?" Ok, not so much.

"Good morning, Mr. Hiddleston. I must ask you to join me."

"Um...Why?" Definitely not an eloquent one while sleepy.

"It's classified. Unless, of course, you choose to come now to our HQ."

"Wait. Classified? Who are you exactly, sir?"

"My name is Phil Coulson and I work for am organization called S.H.I.E.L.D."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"We work with the Avengers, if that makes you feel better."

"Oh. All right. How can I help you though?"

"Come with me, Mr. Hiddleston." At that, the man - Phil Coulson - and started walking down the hall, never looking back to see if Tom was following; which wasn't really necessary - the agent had such authority in his voice that complying was almost an instinct. Besides, Tom's curiosity was much stronger than his common sense.

Putting a sweater that hang upon a chair by the door and the random grey trousers that laid beneath it, the taller man reached the other on the elevator, only to find a knowing smirk aimed at him.

"So, where are we going?"

"To our trasportation." Great, riddles at two in the morning. Sensing that questioning any more would be to no avail, Hiddlston just tried to keep up with Coulson's pace until both went into a kind of helicopter./

"Hey, man. Are you all right?" The voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, yes, sorry. Tom Hiddleston." He shakes hands with the grinning blonde in front of him.

"Chris Evans. Do you know why we're here?"

"Not really, no."

"Great." Chris uttered sarcasticly. "Kind of crazy, right? I mean, they are damn secret agents!" The only answer was an awkward smile, for there was another addition to the room - a young woman dressed in a pink garment suspiciously similar to night clothing and seeming tired as hell.

"Hey, Scarlett! Looking like death warmed over."

"Always the gentleman, aren't you Chris?"

After her, came other three people he recognized vaguely from movies he had seen - Robert, Mark and Jeremy, Tom learned. Then fortunately a known face, Chris Hemsworth.

Some time later, that same agent and other two - a brunette woman and a black man who looked like the definition of 'badass' - came into the room.

"Good morning, recruits." Gods, even his tone was badass.

"Recruit? I was hoping to be called agent."

"Mr. Downey, please refrain from interrupting the Director."

"You didn't refrain from taking me forcefully out of my house." Forcefully? And here he was thinking it had been his choice.

Not bothering to acknowledge the man further than to glance at him, the 'Director' continued speaking. Basically, all sevem of them were spitting imagens of the Avengers and had to 'replace' those while they were 'otherwise engaged' - of course there was no explanation as to what that meant.

The next hour found the actors in a monstrous gym designes for the heroes, dressed in training clothes - lycra, ugh - and having no idea of what to do there. However, they had been told to train and none of them had enough energy to argue about it.

Scarlett started streaching, Jeremy went looking around for his dead ringer's bow and arrows, Rob took the punching bags and Tom the knifes that belonged to Loki - a strange feeling, indeed. Kind of lost in his own mind while handling the deadly weapons, the man heard some laughter, which brought him to the present and to a really amusing scene.

Right in the middle of the gym, one Chris stood staring dumbfounded to the shirtless other. "Dude, how you fucking do that man? That bit between your bicep and your tricep, what's that bomb? Fuck man, I'm supposed to be Captain America, but you actually are Thor!" Then looking wide eyed to the rest of the group. "That guy is Thor!"

Nobody could help the laughter that ensued, a blushing Hemsworth and a gapping Evans were just too much to handle seriously. Somewhere between one short breat and another, Tom thought for the first time 'It may be good staying with this guys after all.'

A.n.: I'm soooooo sorry for the cruel delay and senseless chapter (I'm not at all satisfied with it, but there it goes...) It's just that those couple week I've spent more of my time studying than Tom Hiddleston has been awesome (which is mathematically impossible) - school has been kind of tough.

I promise I'll do better next time.  
Lots of Love, R&R

P.s.: I won't feature the actors again, it was just for fun (unless someone asks for it, of course) ;)


	12. Chapter 11

A.n.: it's short, it's silly and it's terribly delayed, and I know I'm a horrible person for not updating sooner... Hope you still enjoy it though :)

Morning began with the group of eight surrounding the table placed in the dinning/livingroom for breakfast - almost a week into their confinement, a healthy routined had finally started to show its face.

"So, what are we gonna do today?" Asked Tony, mouth half full and mind trying to come up with something other than watching movies - a daring task given they could not leave the house, or use the internet, or even fucking walk (okay, that was just him and Steve, but you got the point).

"I was planning a complete check up on all of you, fresh bandages and possibly different medication depending on how the injuries are healing." Elena supplied dutifully as always.

"Oh, joy." Barton chimed in, not at all amused by the prospect of enduring so obvious help.

"Don't fret, Clint." Bruce spoke, pausing the subject until the end of the meal.

Once that was over, Steve cleared his throat to break the unconfortable atmosphere - nobody there liked being vulnerable, after all. "Who'll be the first, Ms Elena?"

Before she could answer though, a mighty thunder sounded outside (followed by the hum of heavy rain) and in less than a second all eyes were on Thor - whose response was an innocent look not even his brother could fake. "It wasn't me, my friends."

Sighting, Banner took off his glasses. "It's just our luck, a storm to lock us inside." Howerver, his true worry was how much 'the other guy' hated the constant noise.

"Not that it makes any difference." Natasha continued, neutral as ever (although Barton could see a hint of annoyance in her eyes).

Dettached from the conversation, Stark's eyes suddenly lit up at such a simple opportunity of distraction. Maneuvering his own wheelchair backwards, then spinning it around, he went for the backyard, atracting confused stares.

"Come on, people! Have you not had a childhood?!" Not that he had had one, but still...

Confused his team remained, while Elena just smiled and shook her head slightly.

"That's a most unintelligent question, even for you Stark." Loki replied, sarcastic as ever but amused nonetheless.

"Okay, I'll give you that two princes, two assassins, a nerd and a popsicle aren't the most normal folk, but fuck it, rain baths are too much fun to miss!" With that, the amusement deprived billionaire launched himself - clothes, chair and cast be damned - through the glass door (opened hastily with an unbalanced shove) and into the rain.

After a moment of hesitation the Avengers (minus Bruce and Steve), went after him in different degrees of excitement - as indeed all of them had much catching up to do with childhood.

Thor was the first after Tony (who was by now positively drenched and beaming at the half unexpected company), a big smile plastered through his features.

Then came Clint, happy for not having to deal with stupid injuries for the moment. He was followed by Tasha and Loki, who seemed torn between having fun and keeping up with their eternally serious demeanor - the first option visibly gaining ground as the three men already outside childishly laughed and moved randomly around as they could.

Soon, Banner and Rogers came to sit by the open door, both watching their team of grown up children (now five of them) have rare innocent fun for once - their own smiles pretty obvious.

Almost half an hour later, the clouds desapeared at last, leaving behind drenched gods, spies and playboy. Five towels, delivered unoticed by a certain agent, rested on one of the veranda's chairs - the other occupied by a sleeping Bruce (for a change relaxed by his teammates' carefree attitude).

Silently, Natasha fetched them (while Steve slightly shook his head in mock disapproval) only to throw one at Tony's silly smile and then hand the others quietly.

Thor, loving every bit of his big brother moments, helped a now brooding Clint to get dry; Loki just laid on the comfortable grass beside Stark and his soaked wheelchair, both not wanting to go inside so soon.

"Now we must go inside, my friends. Lady Elena has to take care of you all." Letting go of Clint and looking pointedly at his brother, the thunderer guided an unwilling Anthony inside. Tasha followed with Steve and after them came Barton and Loki, the team unanimously agreeing to let Banner rest in the breeze and soft daylight for a while.

Elena adressed the firstif the row kind of motherly. "Oh gods, Mr. Stark. Now I'll have to change you cast again." The first time been when the man soddened it on purpose during a bath.

"That was my intention, little one." He replied, not one to keep quiet and still wanting to delay the assistance.

"Shut up and go already, Tony. Let's get over with it." Clint chimed in, serious once again.

Through the next hours, one by one the momentarily sulking teammates were bandaged and medicated, then divided in the task of preparing lunch (which meant Loki and Tony playing chess, Clint hiding in his room, Natasha looking out of place in the kitchen and Thor burning onions instead of browning them while the other three actually did something).

Evening came, in which Loki suggested a chess competition that proved to be fun (strange people they were) - probably because they named the pieces after S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and each other and gave them new movements, turning the game on roleplay.

Soon it was night and all retreated to their chambers, willing the next day to be somewhat cool as well.


End file.
